16 September 2023 , 17:30
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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand was proven right as Danny Welbeck scored against his former club in Brighton's emphatic 3-1 win at Old Trafford.
Welbeck netted Brighton 's opener after a well-worked move, his sixth against United since they sold him back in 2014. Three of those goals were for Arsenal, while his strike on Saturday was his third against United since he joined Brighton in 2020.
And Ferdinand, who played alongside Welbeck at Old Trafford, said last season he felt United "wouldn't go wrong" had they re-signed the 32-year-old as a back-up striker. Speaking after Brighton beat United 2-1 in their opening game last season, where Welbeck got an assist, Ferdinand said on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel: "Danny Welbeck would have started today for Man United.
"Welbeck walked out of that tunnel, shoulders back, chest out, and you could see he was thinking he would terrorise that team. That's how he played. He looked like primetime Danny Welbeck at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid."
And when asked if he felt United should have re-signed Welbeck that summer, Ferdinand replied: "On today's performance, no doubt. If you wanted a back-up striker you wouldn't go wrong with Danny Welbeck.
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"You tell him he'll play 15-20 games across the season, fill in for Cristiano [Ronaldo], give us the legs and give us the movement. He can get in behind and creates the space for the likes of Bruno [Fernandes]."
And he came back to haunt Erik ten Hag again, by opening the scoring in a well-deserved win for the Seagulls. The humiliating defeat piles the pressure on Ten Hag, who has seen his United side endure a miserable start to the season.
Reflecting on Saturday's 3-1 defeat, the United boss took aim at his players, claiming they did not stick to his plan. "Absolutely [the system worked]," he told MUTV after the match.
Danny Welbeck celebrates scoring against his former club (Manchester United via Getty Imag)"The first 20 minutes were very good. We have to stick to the plan [despite the goal] because it worked well. We had quite a few chances." He also added to Sky Sports : "There's always some improvements to make, especially the organisation. But it was not our day.
"The second goal was straight after half-time. Second chance second goal, very clinical. It was a setback we did not deal with so good. but we have to keep positive in such moments and stick together and you will get back onto the game.
"You learn many things from such a game. From the mental side, you can keep strong in moments but I have seen some good stuff. the way we created many chances we are just not finishing them, but that will change."